Copyright berkshireeagle
LENOX — After 43 years as owner of Nejaime’s Wine Cellars, the family enterprise opened by his parents in Stockbridge in 1970, Joe Nejaime, 67, is selling the business. But it'll stay in the family. By the end of this year, he's selling it to his daughter Lily Nejaime, 29, who will also take over the business's Lenox location. To ensure a seamless transition, Joe Nejaime will help his daughter as a close adviser and consultant. Lily Nejaime graduated from Lenox Memorial Middle and High School and UMass-Amherst Isenberg School of Management in 2014 and 2018 respectively. She has been full-time manager of the Lenox store for the past three years, while Jim Wallace oversees the Stockbridge location on Elm Street. From 2018 to 2022, she worked in Boston as an assistant front-office manager at the Godfrey Hotel. “She came back with a bank of knowledge and experience, I would see it,” Joe Nejaime said. “I didn’t teach it to her, she learned it on her own. I may have taught her what not to do.” While “Lily has decided to acquire the Lenox and Stockbridge businesses,” Joe Nejaime explained, he’s not retiring — just stepping back. “I’m going to work for her in a supporting role, with a reduced schedule to fill in or troubleshoot, because I love doing it,” he emphasized. “It kind of works out that way now, though we haven’t yet formalized anything.” “Behind the scenes, I’ll have a lot more responsibility, liability,” Lily Nejaime acknowledged. “But it won’t be too much of a noticeable change for our customers because I still do things the way he taught me. We’re not making some big, drastic change, but more constant little changes to evolve in the way our customers want.” The financial details about the value of the corporation, Stockbridge Wine Cellar Inc., are being worked out with the help of an attorney and an accountant, and should be completed by the end of this year. Since the buyer is his daughter, Joe Nejaime said he does not intend to drive a hard bargain. The Nejaimes’ building in the 68 Main Street Village Plaza complex is leased long-term from real estate investor Drew Davis. Father and daughter are on the same page, said Joe Nejaime. “I think I can contribute, even though she has new ideas, a lot of energy, and great organizational skills and management.” “I do make a lot of the decisions,” Lily Nejaime noted, “but I’m lucky enough to be able to discuss them with my dad. Why would I make an important decision without referring to his many years of experience?” The changeover was inevitable, he pointed out, since Lily Nejaime is “interested, willing and able to assume the reins and the responsibility, and buy me out.” “It does feel natural,” Lily Nejaime agreed, citing “progressive changes and preparations” made in both stores. She aims to emulate her father’s relationships in the community. "At Nejaime’s, we celebrate wine not simply as a product, but as an experience,” she stated. “It’s a journey through geography and time, and I’m proud to continue my family’s tradition of sharing that journey with others through curated selections and personal service.” Joe Nejaime, a member of the Lenox Chamber of Commerce board of directors, served previously on the Lenox Finance Committee during two different stints for 24 years. Cultivating conversation with many customers “adds so much enjoyment to the work,” he commented. “The work is always evolving and adapting; you have to anticipate that people’s interests change and develop.” Starting with a section devoted to cheese and then expanding to other food selections, gift baskets, stemware and accessories, and picnics to go, the store recently added a wide selection of “mocktails” and other non-alcoholic beverages that are in high demand. The store also offers beverage service for weddings as well as other special events and parties. The wine selection is curated — “we and members of our team hand-select and taste all of the wines we bring in,” Lily Nejaime said. The store holds wine seminars at Chesterwood in the summer and at Ventfort Hall the rest of the year, and it hosts wine dinners at several area restaurants such as Cafe Triskele in Lee and Old Inn on the Green in New Marlborough. Lily Nejaime is engaged to be married next September at Chesterwood to Conor Raftery, sales manager at the Pittsfield branch of Girardi Distributors. “We’re grateful for the people who walk through our doors and the relationships we have with this community,” she said. “When people come in, it’s a great compliment,” Joe Nejaime added. Lily Nejaime describes her immersion “in the rich world of wine, not just as a business, but as a way of life. Wine has always been more than just a beverage to me. It is a living expression of history, culture and place. “Every bottle tells a story of the land it came from, the hands that tended the vines, and the traditions passed down through generations,” she said. “What draws me most to wine is its ability to connect people. It brings us to the table, sparks conversation and invites us to savor the moment. Pairing beautifully with food, wine transforms meals into memories.”
